Web Content Viewer (JSR 286)

Web Content Viewer (JSR 286)

Constituent Update - November 15, 2013

Under Secretary for Food Safety Departs USDA

Statement from Under Secretary Elisabeth Hagen

"Today, I am announcing that I will be embarking in mid-December on a new challenge in the private sector. I am grateful to Secretary Vilsack for the opportunity to serve as Under Secretary for Food Safety and be part of his leadership team. I also want to thank the dedicated public servants of FSIS for their tireless work in protecting the public health; it has been an honor to serve with them. I’ve had the pleasure of serving FSIS in a career capacity as well as Under Secretary, so I know full well their commitment to protecting public health.

"It has been an ambitious three years. USDA and FSIS have successfully made preventing foodborne illness a real priority. The steps we have taken, from modernizing the agency, strengthening oversight of industry and increasing outreach to consumers has led to safer food and fewer foodborne illnesses.”

Statement from Secretary Tom Vilsack

"Thanks to Elisabeth Hagen’s hard work and sound leadership of the thousands of employees at the Food Safety and Inspection Service, America’s food supply is safer today than ever before. FSIS has taken a wide range of new and innovative steps to protect consumers — from adopting a new zero-tolerance policy for additional strains of E. coli in beef, to adopting new standards to protect Americans from Salmonella and Campylobacter in poultry, and much more. I’m proud of our record under the Obama Administration to ensure a safe food supply for Americans, and Under Secretary Hagen has played a key role in those efforts. I wish her all the best in her future endeavors."

Follow Us On Twitter

Find food safety information for at-risk people, along with tips and resources to keep consumers and other interested groups informed of the latest agency news and events. Follow FSIS on Twitter at www.twitter.com/USDAFoodSafety.

Notice 74-13, Review of Record During Preshipment Review in Establishments That Have a HACCP Plan

Notice 75-13, Special Provisions for the End of the Leave Year

Directive 2620.3, Identifying Records Management Liaison (RML)

Directive 3720.1 Revision 3, Federal Tort Claims

Update: FSIS Testing for E. coli

Between June 4, 2012, and November 3, 2013, FSIS’ laboratory services analyzed a total of 4,334 beef trim samples (3,765 domestic and 569 imported) and 1,545 follow-up samples (1,431 domestic and 114 imported).

Sixty-five samples were found to be positive; 32 were domestic trim samples; and 33 were domestic follow-up samples. To date, two samples have been positive for both O157:H7 and non-O157 STEC, and five samples have been positive for two different non-O157 O-groups.